Status Decreases Dominance in the West but Increases Dominance in the East

• Published in: Psychological science Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 127 - 137
• Main Authors: Kuwabara, Ko, Yu, Siyu, Lee, Alice J., Galinsky, Adam D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.02.2016; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adult; Asian Americans; Asian Continental Ancestry Group - psychology; China; Collectivism; Cooperation; Cooperative Behavior; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Culture; Dominance; Enforcement; European Continental Ancestry Group - psychology; Female; Hierarchy, Social; Humans; Identity; India; Male; Punishment; United States; Workplace - psychology; Young Adult; punishment; power; culture; hierarchy; status; cooperation
• ISSN: 0956-7976; 1467-9280
• DOI: 10.1177/0956797615612694

In the experiments reported here, we integrated work on hierarchy, culture, and the enforcement of group cooperation by examining patterns of punishment. Studies in Western contexts have shown that having high status can temper acts of dominance, suggesting that high status may decrease punishment by the powerful. We predicted that high status would have the opposite effect in Asian cultures because vertical collectivism permits the use of dominance to reinforce the existing hierarchical order. Across two experiments, having high status decreased punishment by American participants but increased punishment by Chinese and Indian participants. Moreover, within each culture, the effect of status on punishment was mediated by feelings of being respected. A final experiment found differential effects of status on punishment imposed by Asian Americans depending on whether their Asian or American identity was activated. Analyzing enforcement through the lens of hierarchy and culture adds insight into the vexing puzzle of when and why people engage in punishment.